FOREST AND STREAM. 
oat 


same. With such a simple box as this you may grow not 
only our native American ferns, but add to them from time 
to time, as your progress in knowledge increases; the rare 
and beautiful productions of the far off Indies, New Zea- 
land, Mexico, Japan, Australia, and many other countries 
can be made to contribute their varied treasures to the sim- 
ple box in the window of our quiet rural home. 
How great the improvements that can be made upon this 
quite simple window arrangement will naturally suggest 
themselves to almost any one who really and truly loves 
flowers for themselves alone; and to this class we speak— 
for this class we write. We do not expect those who buy 
and wear flowers simply because “‘it is the ton” do so, or 
because at the great party given at Mrs. St. John’s last 
week there was a “‘lovely boquet” placed beside each lady’s 
plate. This is all well as far as it goes, but we speak of 
those who love these beautiful things of earth for their 
own sweet refinements, and because in them we behold the 
teachings of our Father in Heaven. 
We cannot feel too grateful for the plant stands in the 
windows of so many of our country homes, and we always 
feel the refining influences of such a home whenever we 
visit it. Nor are our pleasant memories of such sweet 
scenes enjoyed alone. Said an invalid to me one day, ‘‘I 
have been spending an hour in the sitting room of Mrs. 
W., and I do think if I could only live among the flowers 
I should live longer on the earth than I shall.” 
Having given one or two of our simplest of forms as a 
sort of basis for the future experimental work of our fair 
readers, we pass to other and still more elaborate and, per- 
haps, difficult subjects. Yet this need not be so, for the 
means of success, we think, lies within the power of al- 
most every one who will perseveringly take hold of the 
work. Begin, therefore, as I have stated, with simple 
forms, and time, patience, and aclose observation will 
soon introduce many new flowers to our simple box in the 
window. Then add at each end of the same three or four 
shelves, upon which you can place in a concealed rock 
work of your own originating, a bit of charcoal, with the 
most common orchid attached, whose ‘‘drooping life in the 
air” is like a new revelation of the wonderful in the king- 
dom of plants. Now you can, if you please, elaborate the 
idea. You can make your little rock receptacle sufficient 
to grow the tulip and the crocus, and you will soon find a 
place to grow a great many plants you did not possibly 
think you could have made live by any reasoning other 
than your thought they might live. You tried to grow 
them according to your best knowledge, and you suc- 
ceeded. * 
This is only one of the rewards of the patient student, 
and his reward is ever sure. The grand and magnificent 
beauty of the outer world is only brought within. The 
cactus and the great palm fern, with their tropical beauty, 
the colladium and the calla lily, stand side by side in 
our humble window box, and had Santa Claus only 
brought it on the bright Christmas morning, with words of 
cheer and good wishes, we should have exclaimed at once, 
‘‘All come and witness the floral beauties of my ‘wonder- 
ful Christmas window box.’” 
How our box became, under the wands of two great ex- 
perimenting genii, a truly wonderful box, a source of many 
changes and transformations, we shall make plain to our 
many readers as we progress, with the explanation of our 
—“‘kindred earth’s sweet pastoral.”’ 
nen : OLLIPOD QUILL. 
Slatural History. 
SNAKES IN BHOPAL. 



’ CANNOT express. myselt as exactly pleased with the 
ea, who claimed my quarters during the rainy season 
at the Mouti Bungalow. These guests were innumerable 
snakes, reptiles and insects, who, driven from the garden by 
the rain, sought refuge some on the low roofs of the out- 
buildings and others in the basement. Their presence was 
not by any means desirable, but the snake hunting which 
whiled away some of the monotony of our lives was not 
without a certain charm, and had I been an enthusiastic 
naturalist I might have considered it a perfect godsend. I 
am very much in doubt whether the collection of reptiles 
in the Jardin des Plantes equalled ours in extent or interest. 
Imprimis, our bed cooms swarmed with lizards and cham- 
elions of all sizes, big and little, who promenaded over the 
ceiling and walls, If you lifted up a mat ora carpet, out 
came a legion of scorpions of various kinds and colors, and 
centipedes, too, with their thousand stinging points, besides 
black spiders of prodigious dimensions. As to the snakes, 
every day brought a new variety. There were black 
cobras, whip-snakes, goulabies, and other rare kinds. If 
we only had bottles enough, and a stock of spirits of wine, 
we might have made a famous collection. Among the rep- 
tiles there were two which always caused a certain amount 
of emotional effect. One was the Bis cobra, a hideous liz- 
ard of large size, whose forked tongue distils a poison of 
fearful power, from whence the native name, which means 
“twenty cobras in one,” This dreadful creature encamp- 
ed himself particularly in my bed, and refusing to retreat, I 
had to shoot him. The other visitor was a superb Indian 
boa, (pytho tigris,) and his snakeship we found coiled up in 
acloset. He received us with a series of bounds and hiss- 
ings of such a decided character that we took to our heels. 
In order to dislodge him we were forced to give him a bath 
of hot water. Then he made his way through a hole in 
the wall and went for the garden; however, a heavy stick 
did the business for him. He was a magnificent creature, 
with a greenish blue skin, and marked with regular stripes, 
from whence his name. In length he was about fourteen 
feet and as thick round as my arm. This boa is the largest 
of the India snakes, and is sometimes found twice the size 
of the one we killed. During December and January this 
boa remains in a torpid condition. He changes his skin in 
very probably have been removed. 





May. He feeds on rats and other small animals. We had 
some narrow escapes from being bitten by our uninvited 
guests, but fortunately escaped.—Translated for the Fornst 
AND SrreAM from Rousselet’s Travels, Tour du Monde. 
Beene SF 
Eprror Forest anp STREAM :— 
Dear Srr.—In the Forrest anp Srream, of Deeember 
11, is a communication entitled, ‘‘Do Snakes Hiss?” As I 
am something of a ‘‘snakist,” so far as considerable ex- 
perience in finding and capturing these reptiles is concern- 
ed, I feel prompted, since the communication referred to 
throws a doubt upon whether snakes hiss, to offer my ob 
servations to the readers of your valuable paper. It has long 
been a well-known fact that certain snakes produce a his- 
sing noise when disturbed, but I am not aware that this fac- 
ulty has ever been attributed by a r@liable observer to any 
species except the ‘‘spreading adders,” or hog-nose snakes, 
(Arterodon); and if Mr. Mather had been fortunate enough 
to come across many of these snakes in the course of his 
experiments, his doubts in regard to their hissing would 
Many a time have I 
been warned of the close proximity of a ‘‘spreading adder” 
merely by its loud hiss, which, as has often truly been as- 
serted, reminds one strongly of the hiss of a goose. When 
producing this noise, the “‘adder’” lattens the head and 
neck, which is accomplished by straightening to a perfectly 
horizontal position the moveable ribs of the anterior part of 
the body. The appearance of these snakes at such timesis 
extremely threatening, and this, no doubt, has earned for 
them, in all localities where they are known, the erroneous 
notoriety of their being extremely poisonous. I know cer- 
tain sections where the ‘‘spreading adders,” ‘‘hissing ad- 
ders,” or ‘“\ipers,” as they are commonly called, are pop- 
ulary considered to be the most venomous of all snakes. It 
may therefore be incredible to not a few, the fact that our 
so-called adders or vipers are perfectly harmless, and en- 
tirely distinct from the poisonous viper of Europe, ( Viperus 
berus.) 
In this connection, some other peculiarities of ‘‘snaix”’ 
occur tome. One much discussed, and also muck snubbed 
by some scientific men who are less conversant with nature 
itself than its mummified remains, is the power tocharm 
birds and animals imputed to some species. I will not here 
either try to deny or confirm this, but shall only add my 
experience, which may be taken for what it is worth. The 
first instance that ever came to my knowledge, was the fol- 
lowing:—When living at home it was the custom of my 
father to take me walking with him on Sundays to the 
woods; on such an occasion, several years ago, we entered 
an open glade in the woods, and were surprised to see a 
blue jay lying flat upon the ground, in a sunny spot, with 
its wings and tail spread. We both supposéd it dead, and 
Tran to pick it up, when greatly to our surprise it suddenly 
“came to life” at my approach, and flew up into the trees; 
at the same time an enormous black snake, (Bascemion con- 
strictory which I immediately noticed, wheeled quickly 
round and ‘‘streaked” into the hazel undergrowth. Upon 
another oceasion I was in an apple tree in an open lot, 
gathering apples, when my attention was attracted by the 
unusual excitement of a family of young blue birds, (Sialia 
svalis), upon the rail fence near by. They were twittering 
excitedly, and were exceedingly nervous in their actions, 
flitting from one fence-stake to another, now and then fly- 
ing about a rod towards the tree, and hovering over some 
object in the grass. When I noticed this, I watched them 
attentively, and found that their excitement and nervous- 
ness increased, and that at each time the birds settled down 
nearer to the object which I then found to be a snake of 
very extraordinary appearance, perfectly motionless, about 
half its body raised from the ground, the neck appearing 
of a bright scarlet color, and very much swollen. I then 
descended from he tree as quickly as possible, and after 
hunting around some time for a suitable stick, advanced 
toward the snake, which immediately began a retreat and 
escaped by crawling swiftly under the fence, where it hid 
so that I could not find it. I got very close to it, however, 
and noticed that the entargement of the neck was caused 
by it having partially swallowed a young blue bird, the 
legs of which were sticking out of its mouth; while the 
scarlet color was caused by the stretching of the skin, 
which, under the scales, was of a bright red tint. The 
snake was about four feet long, of a black color, with the 
under side of the body of a brick-red tint. The species I 
could not determine. The experience of many years’ care- 
ful observation of the wonders and beauties of nature—and 
among them snakes as well as birds and plants, have re- 
ceived their due share—and whieh I have ever studied im- 
partially, and without prejudiced notions, have convinced 
me that snakes do catch birds by the power of fuscination. 
Numerous observations make me positive in this assertion. 
Far from imputing to this any mysterious or wonderful 
character, however, it is my conclusion after a careful 
analysis of the facts, that it is nothing in the world which 
influences the victim but curiosity and fear combined, the 
former predominating, huwever, until the latter feeling is 
entirely absorbed in it. The bird comes nearer and nearer 
to the snake, whose mysterious nature is made more the 
subject of curiosity by its absolutely immovable position, 
until the intense feeliny of curiosity or excitement of the 
bird brings it so near that it is quickly seized by the snake 
when the proper moment arrives. RoBERT Rmeway. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, December 24, 1773. 
[NOTE TO THE ‘ABOYE. | 
I have carefully read over what Mr. Ridgway has said 
about the hissing of snakes, and agree fully with him on 
the subject, having very frequently heard the ‘‘Hog-nose 
Vipers” or ‘‘Spreading Adders,” (Heterodon platyrhinos), go 












through that performance as thoroughly and audibly as a 
goose, appreciable at a distance of several yards. 
In this connection I may be pardoned for referring to a 
characteristic of this same serpent. When coiled up and 
in the act of hissing, by describing circles rapidly around 
it with the finger, it is apparently thrown into convulsions 
and squirms and writhes as if in the agonies of death, 
finally turning belly upwards, the jaws separated, and the 
tongue protruding, asif dead. In this, however, it is only 
“playing possum,” as on removing to a short distance, the 
animal will be seen to return to a natural position and glide 
off, unless intercepted and made to renew the same per- 
formance, Spencer F. Barr. 
Pies 
ANTLERED Dors.—Mr. Thomas H. Estey, of Marion 
county, California, writes us that he recently shot an ant- 
lered black-tail deer in San Luis, Obispo county, same 
State, which he supposed was a buck, but which proved 
upon examination to be a doe. Its horns were about a foot 
long and pronged. The animal weighed fifty pounds 
dressed. This gentleman writes to know if antlered does 
are ever found among the deer family, east. In reply 
we state that with both varieties of the caribou (barren and 
woodland), thefemales have horns, but as far as our per- 
sonal knowledge and inquiry extend, instances in all other 
varieties of the Cervus family are very unusual. 
ge 
_ DEPARTMENT OF PuBLIC PARKS, 
OFFICE OF MENAGERIE, 
New Yorx«, December 27th, 1873. \ 
Animals received at Central Park Menagerie for the 
week ending December 26, 1873: 
One pair imported Kerry cattle, Bos tawrus, Hub. Ireland. 
Presented by Mr. Thomas P. Ramsdell, Newburgh. P 
One Irish hare, Lepus hibernicus. Presented by Mr. 
Thomas Hamilton. 
Two wild turkeys (cocks), Meleagris gollopavo. ‘These 
birds were captured at Chancellorsville, Va., by means of . 
snares. As itis quite difficult to entrap these birds, great 
skill must be employed to entice them into the snare. The 
usual plan is to scatter grain at a considerable distance 
from the trap, diminishing this distance each day, until 
finally the bird finds, onraising his head after eating, that 
he is firmly secured. W. C. ConkLIn. 
auswers Co Coryespondents. 
[We shall endeavor in this department to impart and hope to receive 
such information as may be of service to amateur and professional sports- 
men. We will cheerfully answer all reasonable questions that fall within 
the scope of this paper, designating localities for good hunting, fish- 
ing, and trapping, and giving advice and instructions as to outfits, im 
plements, routes, distances, seasons, expenses, remedies, traits, species 
governing rules, etc. All branches of the sporisman’s craft will receive 
attention, Anonymous Communications not Noticed, 
Pobre oS 
BENNETT & Co., Fort Edward.—Price of Gloan $1 50. 
R. C. F., Baltimore.—Your question is answered under the head- of 
Kennel. 
W.H.S., Germantown, Pa.—What size gun is best for ordinary game 
shooting, 10 or 12 bore? Ans. 12 bore. 
Mrs. H. OprpDine, New York.—Fort Randall, in Bonhomme county, 
about 120 miles from Omaha, a 
Dr. B.S., Baltimore.—The *‘Trapper’s Guide’? can be purchased of 
Messrs. Mason, Baker & Pratt, 142 Grand street, New York. 
PLankus.—Do you think the Gyro a good invention for persons to 
learn to shoot on the wing, and how can you tell when you hit them? 
Ans. 1. Yes, very fair. 2. Made of iron painted black, paint over the 
shot marks after each hit. 
J.B. S., Philadelphia.—What are the general charges per day at the 
islands in Virginia, your correspondent writes about? Ans. The charges 
at Cobb’s Island are $5 a day and half the birds. Every appliance re- 
quisite for wild fowl shooting is found. The board is $3 a day, 
H. C.S., Mobile.—A 30 foot, cat-rigged sail boat, 8 foot beam, with 
spare sails, rigging, and painted two coats of paint, completed, will cost 
$525 delivered to any railroad or vessel in this city. The cheapest way 
to have the boats sent would be by sailing vessel. 
. 8S. O., Wilmington, Del.—I havea valuable Gordon setter, his eyes 
are always running and suppurating. TI think a thorn or rusty nail has 
injured them. What canIdo to relieve him? Ans. Gtyc a mild dose 
of physic and foment the eye very frequently with warm water; after- 
wards bathe it with an eye water composed of rose water and white vit- 
riol mixed as fora human being, but rather stronger, If the eye still 
continues to discharge put a seton in his neck. Weak eyes are very fre- 
quently the effect of heat of constitution and want of condition. 
J. L. Hersey.—Cracking of ice is caused by its settling or its raising 
as the case may be. When the air escapes from beneath through air 
holes, the ice gradually settles, splits, and often throws up ridges. In 
shallow water the ice is sometimes raised by the concentrated air from 
different air holes. This also causes it tocrack; and when thus broken 
and the airis permitted to escape from underneath, it settles to the 
water’s level, below its former position, and this eauses it to crack again 
Voyez vous? : 
Grarron, Vt.—What is Greenheart, where does it grow, and where 
can it be procured? Where is Lawcewood grown and who are the im 
porters in New York? Ans. 1. Greenheart is a West India wood, im 
ported chiefly from Demerara, but little used for rod making in the 
United States, though in fayor with Canadians. Cargoes come to Hali 
fax occasionally, and by writing to Halls & Creed, ship brokers, you 
can ascertain who are the importers. A letter to Dingee Scribner, of 
St. John, N. Brunswick, might possibly secure a small lot, but none in 
bulk. 2. Lawcewood is also indigenous to the West Indies. John 
Bornhoeft & Son, 90 Walker street, imported a cargo recently. Small 
lots might be procured by addressing Andrew Clerk & Co., 48 Maiden 
Lane, or J. H. Terhune, corner Elm and Canal streets, New York. 
Mouawk, New York.—1st. Is mercurial ointment,commonly known as 
“blue ointment,’ good to rub on the inside of the barrels of a breech- 
loader to keep them from rusting, and if not what is? Ans. For sea 
water rust mix the very finest emory with the above. 2d. What differ- 
ence is there in the strength of English powder, No. 3 and Orange Light 
wing No. 7?. Ans. Itis about the same, only the orange powder oe 
plodes the soonest. 8d. Do you consider 8 Ibs. sufficiently heayy fora 
No. 10 bore gun? Alsoin a No. 10 that you can use only 4} drachms of 
powder in with advantage, sufficiently heavy for duck shooting? Ans 
8 lb. gun, 10 bore is heavy enough for game bird shooting. Bor wild 
fowl the.gun should weigh 9}1bs. 4th. What do you think of the Dou- 
gall Lockport gun? Do you consider it one of the best guns made? How 
does it compare with Scott's? Ans. Wehave an opinion but decline to 
state it for obvious reasons. 5th. For what can you import me a red 
Irish setter bitch of the very best stock? Ans. For $150. 6th For 
about what could you import me a pair of Cocker spaniels of good blood 
young, and thoroughly broken? Which would you prefer, black and tan, 
or liver and white? Ans. Black and tan. $100. : ‘ 
